N.Korea hardens stance ahead of nuclear talks

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) – Six-party talks on ending North Korea’s
nuclear weapons programs open on Tuesday in Beijing with
Pyongyang having hardened its stance on its right to have a
civilian program — a key sticking point in the discussions.

The talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and
the United States headed into a recess on August 7 after
failing to settle even on a statement of principles during 13
days of discussions in Beijing.

Since then, North Korea has stepped up its rhetoric on what
it says is its inherent right to a peaceful nuclear program and
delayed the original late-August date for restarting the talks.

Officials from the other parties say a peaceful nuclear
program should be considered, if at all, after North Korea
builds up trust with the international community. For now, they
fear such a project could be misused to make atomic weapons.

The other parties to the talks say the top priority — and
the key to earning trust — is to have North Korea dismantle
its nuclear weapons programs completely, verifiably and
permanently. The North says it already has nuclear weapons.

“The peaceful use (of nuclear programs) is not the biggest
issue at the talks. The biggest issue is whether North Korea
will clearly commit itself to abandoning its nuclear weapons
programs and other nuclear programs completely,” said a
Japanese delegate to the six-party talks.

North Korea sees things differently.

It has said it will press ahead with plans for a civilian
nuclear program, and U.S. objections could harm the talks,
which this time are set to last a week but could continue
longer.

“Nobody should expect the DPRK to waive its right to
peaceful nuclear activity,” an official commentary said. The
North’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea.

A senior South Korean official familiar with the talks said
behind the scenes North Korea had been pressing to restart a
suspended project to supply it with relatively
proliferation-resistant light-water reactors.

PROGRESS AND TRUST?

An international consortium was to supply those reactors as
part of a 1994 deal under which North Korea was to freeze its
nuclear weapons programs in return for fuel assistance that
would later be replaced by power from the reactors.

Washington says the North broke the deal by pursuing a
secret nuclear weapons plan using highly enriched uranium.

The South Korean official, who asked not to be named, said
the United States would not agree to dusting off the 1994
light-water reactor deal nor striking a new agreement under
which the North gets international help to build light-water
reactors.

A separate senior South Korean official said the parties
had laid most of their cards on the table and the discussions
had made strides since they began in August 2003.

“We are not at the stage of talking about dismantlement
versus corresponding measures any more. We’re much deeper into
the issues,” he said.

A senior Russian diplomat told Interfax news agency the six
parties “have never been so close” to reaching a deal.

Yet that optimism is not universal, and analysts note
failure to make progress at this set of talks could lead to
pressure to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council.

U.S. officials have expressed concern about the North
having any sort of nuclear program, saying the country could
use a civilian program to develop nuclear weapons.

North Korea declared in February it had nuclear weapons. It
left the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in January 2003.

The top U.S. negotiator to the talks said North Korea,
which battles energy shortages, should look to a sweetener from
South Korea to supply it with electricity about equal to its
own output after it dismantles its nuclear weapons programs.

“Our position has been very clear on this. North Korea
needs to get out of the nuclear business,” Christopher Hill,
assistant secretary of state for Asia and Pacific Affairs, told
a briefing in Washington on Friday.

“In some two-and-a-half to three years, they could have new
electricity being generated into towns and villages and cities
in the DPRK,” he said of the proposal from South Korea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a briefing
last week that Beijing — host of all the talks so far — hoped
the parties would seize the opportunity to reach a deal.

(With additional reporting by Teruaki Ueno in Tokyo and
Jack Kim in Seoul)